Where Does ATS Get All The Money?

Originally posted by StarChild
So........*clears throat*........back to fund raising. Any more ideas?
I have one...
How about a clothing line?

Talked about that further up the page:

Originally posted by Banshee
This is something we've talked about before, and something that's still being researched.
I deal with this on a much smaller basis (see link in sig), and I can tell you that it's a metric ton of work for a relatively small profit
margin.
We don't want products that are of terrible quality ... that's the most important thing. Many companies that handle production & shipping of logo
products skimp on quality to save money.

If we go top-quality on product and source the warehousing/shipping elsewhere .... well, you have no idea how expensive that is. It results in
basically a zero profit.

If we try to warehouse & ship ourselves ... who the heck is gonna take on that responsibility? I don't think SkepticOverlord has the time or space
for such a project. (imagine a garage full of coffee mugs & t-shirts, nowhere to park your car, collecting orders, boxing & labelling product, not to
mention daily trips to the post office/FedEx to ship the stuff!)

I'd love an ATS t-shirt, personally. Hell, I promised SO I'd wrestle in it if we could ever find a way to get them going! There just doesn't seem
to be a way to get production & shipping done at a reasonable cost that would allow ATS to make money; we'd be more at risk of losing money.

But if you know of someplace we haven't found yet, someplace that can handle everything and still allow ATS to turn a profit, speak up!!!

Membership fees would be the death of ATS.It must remain free at the point of access.

Advertising is the long term answer.The more popular the board the more attractive it becomes to advertisers.

The more money we get from advertisers, the more that can be invested back into ATS,the more popular ATS gets.

It's this cycle that ATS is on currently.

Occasionally,when ATS growth has meant investment is needed for upgrades a paypal link appears.This is always voluntary and in one and half years
I've been here it has only happened twice both times it was followed by server and security upgrades so everyone knew exactly where their donations
went.

I think it's great ppl want to donate but I think the main reason for that is that ATS does not ask if it is not essential.

Originally posted by John bull 1
Membership fees would be the death of ATS.It must remain free at the point of access.

That was just an idea. But if you read correctly, I never said to charge for regular member access. That wasn't my intention. Of course, not everyone
could afford to pay, so regular access must remain free.

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